Thursday, October 16, 2014

Join Your Voice with Our Voices

The People’s Climate March is over. It was a glorious day on the streets of New York City, where Presbyterians joined over 400,000 people from all walks of life. Our voices were heard – but the March is only the beginning of our work to call on global leaders to support a strong global climate agreement.

As Christians, we know that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor. But the first commandment is to care for all of God’s creation. In Genesis 1, we are called to be stewards of all that God created, “God spoke: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth’” (Gen. 1: 26, The Message). Genesis 2 reads, “God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order” (Gen. 2:15). Caring for God’s creation is a huge responsibility and we cannot do it alone. We need to lift our voices with millions of other people of faith around the globe and let our leaders know that we need a strong global climate agreement.

That’s why people of faith are joining the Our Voices campaign. Pledge to lift your voice in prayer that all leaders will support a global climate agreement by clicking here. The time is truly NOW that we who love all that God has given us must rise, reach out, collaborate and create a sense of urgency for caring for God’s creation.

Creator God, You have called us to be keepers of your Earth; through greed, we have created an economy that destroys the web of life. We have changed our climate and drown in despair. Let oceans of justice flow, may we learn to sustain and renew the life of our Mother Earth. We pray for our leaders, custodians of Mother Earth. May they negotiate with wisdom and fairness, may they act with compassion and courage, and lead us in the path of justice for the sake of our children and our children’s children. ~ Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.